This is the last of four posts on this year's Jazz on the Mountain Festival.

Jazz on the Mountain always ends on Monday morning with what I call the Parlor Games, a mixing and matching of the artists, sometimes playing my musical fantasies (a bass solo or a bass and bass sax duet, Joe playing a cappella, and the like) or whatever feels like it'll be fun.

This year ended with a grouping I called the Mohonk Nuclei: Anat, Scott, Joe, Martin, Matt. We quickly sketched out a program, and then let the games...happen.

"Solar" for starters, and then a trio of Anat with M&M. They'd enjoyed playing together so much last year that they recorded together, and they played a whimsical piece inspired by a rutabaga festival.

Joe told a story about being inspired early on by a record of Jimmy Scott, and about the thrill years after of recording with Jimmy. Joe played, alone at the vibes, his tribute to Jimmy, "Sword of Whispers."

I (or the mostly dormant actor in me) usually join in the Parlor Games. I'll "act" some lyrics or poems with the cats playing along. Last year: a jigsaw of Stephen Sondheim. This year: a shuffling of Cole Porter I called "Cole Slaw."

I performed shards of Porter's lyrics with the players improvising counterpoints or playing some of Porter's melodies. Especially beautiful were a Joe Locke solo of "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" and a duet of Matt's drums and Scott's bass sax playing "You Do Something to Me."

I called up an actual singer, Amy Cervini, to sing some Blossom Dearie songs. Martin, with Joe and Scott, played the aptly-titled Hank Jones tune called "Sublime."
And, as the jazzfest began with a Monk tune, we ended with a Monk tune, "Rhythm-a-ning."

I always enjoy when Matt Wilson goes nuts at the drums, as when, mid-solo, he leaped up, threw open the door to the balcony, and hurled a drumstick onto the ice of Lake Mohonk.

Rather like tossing a penny into the Trevi Fountain for the promise of a return to Rome, Matt's drumstick was the promise of a return to JOTM 2014 at the Mohonk Mountain House.

--Michael Bourne

This is the third of four posts on this year's Jazz on the Mountain festival.

Incapable of being anti-climactic, Scott Robinson stole the jazzfest on Sunday morning. He played mostly with Martin and Matt, but Frank and Fred also joined in.

He was funny, telling stories about his dad. He was dramatic, playing a harrowing theme from his album inspired by pulp hero Doc Savage. He played a growling bass sax and more of his heartful tenor sax. He remembered playing with Chet Baker and played "But Not for Me" on a cornet.

Scott's finale featured a clarinet-like Hungarian instrument called the tarogato. He inherited the brown-ish horn, somewhat chubbier than a clarinet, from Joe Muranyi, clarinetist with Louis Armstrong. He remembered his friend with "The Old Miss Blues." Scott's concert was a favorite of the Mohonk multitude, and he sold more CD's than any artist ever at the jazzfest.

I've always wanted Fred Hersch to play what I think of as the "Horowitz slot" on a Sunday afternoon. He played several of his most evocative pieces. "Whirl" -- which it does. "Stuttering" -- which bounces like a ball down stairs. "At the Close of the Day" from his setting of Whitman's "Leaves of Grass."

Anat Cohen joined in a lively and lovely duet.
 Anat's album called "Claroscuro" and Matt's album called "An Attitude for Gratitude" were my favorite albums last year.

Matt's Arts and Crafts group featured Mike Rodriguez on trumpet, Gary Versace on piano and organ -- "He forgot the accordion," said a teasing Matt -- and Martin Wind playing on Sunday evening.

Goofy and swinging, they played a musical kaleidoscope. Gary was especially edgy, sometimes with one hand on the piano and the other playing an organ that sounded like a sci-fi soundtrack. Martin's "Cruise Blues" was especially lyrical.

Matt's "Bubbles" was inspired by (and included him touchingly speaking) a poem of Carl Sandburg. And along with a call for the audience to join in Matt's mass-sway, Anat, Scott, and Joe joined Arts & Crafts for a fireworks finale of Duke's "Blue Pepper."

...Michael Bourne

Up next: Monday highlights with Parlor Games and the Mohonk Nuclei